The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is hosting the traveling exhibit, Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, and Mermaids (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythiccreatures/). This is a very cool exhibit created by the American Museum of Natural History which focuses on the natural history origins of many mythic creatures and their place in history and importance to many cultures around the world. I was asked to curate a display of some of my toys as part of our installation. Our exhibit design team created a wonderful new entrance way to our traveling exhibit hall and installed a display case which will also be used for future exhibits. I, however, am the first to use it. I was asked to select "biological" creatures as opposed to "mechanical" ones; to make it look like a crowded Japanese toy store; and was limited to 8 inches in depth for the shelves. I decided to feature Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and modern makers. My last shelf was going to be miscellaneous but when I started pulling SpectreMan kaiju, I could not stop. I am so pleased with the final outcome. The exhibit runs through 1 July. If you find yourself in Clevo, please stop by and have a look. Drop me a line and I'll see if I am available to give you a tour. Enjoy, Mark
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Wow Mark, you did a wonderful job on that display, and kudos on the exhibit in general. I really love your collection, and you did a pefect job of highlighting some quintessential kaiju in sofubi form. Love your themed shelves!
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Awesome mix of vintage you've got there! I'd love to see my toys in a museum, that's cool.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Really nice display Mark. Love the Spectreman shelf, how you have him riding on Midoron.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Yeah, great job on that display. Are those giant Godzilla and Ghidorah toys vintage? They are so clean and perfect.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Awesome, thank you for including Greasebat Mark! Honored to be amongst such a great group of toys, and at a display in one of my favorite local places. I took my parents up there a few months ago, they had never been there. The were very impressed by the collection. I think my favorite thing is the Glyptodon fossil! Looks like we'll be making a trip soon
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan It was fun meeting up w/ you and waiting... last night. Sorry I could not spend more time w/ you guys. Hope you enjoyed the exhibit! Yes, all the toys are vintage except for the standard Giron and Namegon.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Thanks again Mark and Waiting...! It was great meeting you guys. The exhibit was really cool, and I appreciated getting to talk to you about your collection. We'll all have to get together again soon (especially since its getting warmer now).
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Wow this is really cool idea for a exhibit. The painted tentacles are awesome. I would have loved to see this when I was a kid or now! congratz.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Really cool display and idea - if that doesn't inspire kids and adults alike to start collecting sofubi nothing will . . . . .
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan great to see these toys get some mainstream attention. Wish i could see these in person.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan You did a very great selection job ! I love that you include Kumon! He's going to scare some kids It must feel really good to accomplish something like this, congrats !
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Beuatiful display, and yeah, I could see this creating some new junki - er, FANS.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Great job! There's a really nice selection of different sofubi here. How are you coping with your collection not being at home? <img src=\"{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif\" alt=\"\" title=\"Smile\" /> I can't begin to imagine what seeing a display like this would have done to me if I saw it through my adolescent eyes. I'd be fixated on it and not want to see anything else. I also can't begin to imagine what it must be like to see your own creation (ie Lamm's Greasebat) on display in a museum! That's got to be some sort of career milestone.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Thanks, everybody, for the kind words. That's actually only a small part of my collection plus I get to see them every day when I am at work. I've heard from Mark, and Dennis, and Jeff and they have all been very gracious. I would not have put their toys in there if I did not really like them and thought they belonged. There were lots of other toys I would have loved to include, both vintage and modern, but I had my limitations. The most fun part of the whole experience so far has been watching the visitors reacting to them and then engaging them in conversations. Most relate how they loved to watch Godzilla and Gamera movies or Ultraman on tv as a child or with their children. Most kids see them as really cool toys even though they are very different from the kinds of toys they are used to. Most everyone who passes them does a double-take and spends a few minutes checking them out. I only wish I could include some pics of the fantastic exhibit but they have a no photo ban. They have great, huge models of a unicorn, dragon, and roc, plus a Fiji mermaid and great old woodciuts from beastiaries by Gesner and Topsell. I also get to do fun programs for kids and families. Last week we had a costume party w/ a dj and there were unicorns, werewolves, mermaids, a jackalope (me), and many other mythic monsters dancing in our dinosaur hall. This Friday we are doing a sleepover and there will be a "mythic carnival" w/ unicorn ring toss, cyclops cornhole, and pin the tail on the centaur! The exhibit will be there for three more months so stop by and check it out.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan With the kids on spring break next week we're definitely dropping by Mark! The show and your figures look amazing!
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan That's incredible Mark! Really good arrangement and variety, I especially liked where and how that Badzilla is displayed. Bravo!
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan I love the aawwesooommee and sssccaarryyy horse-monster in the first photo. Ooooooooooohhhhhhh wwwwwoooooohhhhhh unless that's a unicorn....then I'm a dick...ha ha.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan It is! Just one of the things that is hard to imagine happening when I started doing art again a few years back.
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan My eyes are watering at all of those marvels! What a wonderful exhibit too! I just wish the installation would make a stop here in San Francisco! I was trying to get to the podcast link, under the INTRODUCTION section, but when I try to access the podcast page, I receive an error message Mark your collection is amazing, even though this is only a "small" sampling. It must have been so much fun watching everyone's reaction to your toys, and interacting with people makes collecting even more fun! Thanks for posting and sharing!
Re: Mythic Monsters: Made in Japan Mark, I want to thank you again from the bottom of my heart. I don't think I can ever really say how happy this makes me feel to be included in a such a great exhibition!!!!! With real monsters no less!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!
